01/15/2011

Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival

Copyright Vladimir Kagan January 15, 2011

The most joyous of Christmas celebration does not necessarily take place on Christmas eve, nor even Christmas Day… it happens the twelfth night thereafter!.... (Or as close to it on the first Sunday in January). It’s The Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival at Palm Beach’s Bethesda by the Sea Episcopal Church to celebrate the Epiphany. It dates back to Roman times as a pagan fête that acquired its modern interpretation as a Christian festival to celebrate the twelfth night after Christmas. Records indicate that the festival took place shortly after the founding of Queens College, Oxford in 1340. The Boar’s Head procession celebrated the deliverance of a young student, lost in a forest, being attacked by a raging Boar, who, with his quick wit, thrust his volume of Aristotle into the Boars throat and saved his life…it symbolized the victory of reason over brute force…to Christian’s it was the victory of Christ’s teaching over ignorance…. and thus the modern saga began.

(In Norman England the Boar was the sovereign of the great forests, a menace to man and a symbol of evil.)

Today’s festivity marked their 31st presentation of this magical pageant. It is full of joy and symbolism. It is the purest form of devotion - of innocence - of love. It celebrates what Christianity expounds.

The beautifully decorated Alter of Bethesda by The Sea

Stained glass windows filtering the afternoon light

A Lone Beefeater awaiting his cue in the Church's courtyard

Palm Beach Daily News / Meghan McCarthy

Assembled Beefeaters ready to parade into the church

The proceedings started in hushed silence in the darkened church… only sunlight filtering through the beautiful stained glass windows. It burst into life with an endearing sprite, skipping down the darkened aisle, bearing a candle to the Rector of the Church, who in turn lit the candles on the altar and with it, the festive lights on the Christmas trees…. It symbolized the light that Christ shed on the earth.

Palm Beach Daily News / Meghan McCarthy

My favorite person in the procession - the adorable little sprite in the middle of this photo

A brass ensemble of a French Horn, two trumpets and trombones proclaimed the start of the procession with a fanfare of uplifting Christmas music, followed by crimson costumed Beefeaters marching majestically down the isles…. the silence was broken by a piercing tap of the major domo’s spear and the proceedings exploded into life with an earsplitting eruption of snare-drums and pipes from Palm Beach’s Pipes and Drum Band, parading solemnly down the isles, playing Scottish melodies and the haunting hymn, Amazing Grace. (It was enough to raise goose bumps on your neck)… This was followed by the entrance of over 200 participants in glorious costumes including the choir, dancers, flag bearers, adorable children of all ages, followed by Heralds, a magnificently robed King Wenceslas and his page, the woodsmen with the Yule log, the shepherds in search of Christ; and finally the three kings, bearing their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. To crown it off, standing high above the altar, a handsome young Joseph with an adoring Mary holding a live infant of 6 months, protected by a white angel.

The start of the procession - the Beefeaters majestically marching down the aisle

Beautifully embroidered crimson coats with the Scottish Rose and Crown

The boom boom boom of the drum accompanying the pipers

Palm Beach Daily News / Meghan McCarthy

Palm Beach Daily News / Meghan McCarthy

Palm Beach Daily News / Meghan McCarthy

A few of the cast of 200 parishioners that made this afternoon so unforgettable

The visual delight was heightened by the exquisite hymns that accompanied the Festival: The haunting “In the Bleak Midwinter” followed by familiar cheerful hymns such as “Deck The Halls” “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, the very beautiful “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent” by Gustav Holst and concluded with “O Come, All Ye Faithful”.

Last week I wrote of Operas with complex music and un-sing--able songs… This was music of joyous melodies with librettos of uplifting hope.

The afternoon was awash with cheerfulness and goodwill and closed with the dousing of the lights and the little sprite returning to skip down the aisle with the dignified Rector holding hands.

Post Script: I wish that the simplicity and purity of this celebration could have prevailed for all the ages… Sadly, its spirit has too often been distorted by ideologies that have inflicted much havoc in this world… This is poignant, as the Christ story is heart- warming – naïve – and full of love and devotion … whether you are a true believer or a skeptic, its charm is overwhelming…. This festival helps to keep his spirit alive!

Comments

Great job. I have never seen a complete performance because I have beeen a shepard for years and and they are one of the last groups in and one of the first out. There is a DVD availible. What I like most is how much the church membership and the community enjoy the performance.